Deitch: Amaro's got to favor bold moves to improve Phillies

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. watches batting practice prior to an Aug. 16 loss to the Dodgers. Amaro needs to get creative to pull the Phillies out of the gutter. (AP Photo/Christopher Szagola)

You are Ruben Amaro Jr. First of all, throw away the resignation letter, because that isnít how this exercise works.

No, this is your mess, these 2013 Phillies, and you are being given one last shot at pulling on the industrial rubber gloves and cleaning it up.

You donít get to blatantly mortgage away the future, and you donít get to spend a great deal more than you blew in this 89-loss season ó about $165 million is the mind-numbing figure you stamp on paychecks to have the worst run differential in the National League.

You donít get to rebuild, either, because by re-signing Chase Utley to a long-term deal and not trading him or Cliff Lee for young talent, you are committed to finding a way to reload the way the Red Sox managed to do this year.

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So, what are you going to do?

Hereís how one guy putting on his total-package thinking cap and faux Stanford degree would go about attempting to get the Phillies back on the rails:

1) Use the gift of a protected pick to do something. The Phillies have the No. 7 overall pick in the June draft, and that canít be touched for free-agent compensation. Itís a gift that permits them to bargain early with free agents, and they need to take advantage of this opportunity. Last winter the Indians were able to use the protection of their top pick to sign both Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. Both of those signings came relatively late in the free-agency process, and both were important pieces as Cleveland went from 68 to 92 wins, even if neither exactly had his best season.

There might be players who linger this time around, but if the Phils are interested in using free agency to get a starting pitcher itís doubtful the top two options ó Ervin Santana and Matt Garza ó are going to make it very deep into the offseason. It could be a different story for outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Shin-Soo Choo, who like Bourn, have Scott Boras as their agent.

The problem with pursuing Ellsbury or Choo is that both are left-handed hitters. As it stands, the Phillies have five regulars ó Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Domonic Brown, Cody Asche and Ben Revere ó they hope will be healthy enough to get 500 plate appearances in 2014. Since integration, there have been only two teams in baseball who have had five left-handed hitters get 500-plus PAs in a season ó the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks and the 2000 Oakland Aís. (Notice that both teams made the postseason. Also note that Arizona had two of the best left-handed hitters against southpaws in the game in Luis Gonzalez, and that Oaklandís five left-handed regulars hit 135 homers, or just nine fewer than the entire 2000 Phillies.)

Adding a sixth left-handed bat to the lineup is insanity. It canít happen unless youÖ

2) Get bold on the trade market. Domonic Brown had a breakout, All-Star season and is still a season away from arbitration. He is an established big-league hitter with incredible potential. He also has tremendous trade value.

Cody Asche showed himself very well during his first big-league call-up, impressing not only the Phillies but scouts from other teams with his skills a little more than two years after he was drafted. He also has some nice trade value.

Both should be shopped.

Agree or disagree with the premise, but the Phillies are committed to the present. So they must trade from their strengths. They have a lot of left-handed bats. They have a young, power-hitting third baseman in Maikel Franco who is close to ready.

If the Marlins are willing to accept that Giancarlo Stanton is disenfranchised and should be dealt, but arenít interested in waiting for a collection of unproven prospects to be big-league ready, then perhaps Brown will appeal to them as the start of a package. Maybe Brown and Franco could get it done; maybe it takes a little more, including a pitcher. Maybe nothing the Phillies offer works. Itís at least a good sign to know they already have made plays for Stanton.

If the Padres accept that Chase Headley isnít going to be worth what heíll want as a free agent at the end of next season, perhaps they would like to talk about Asche in a deal. The Padres also have an underrated reliever in Luke Gregerson who also is coming up on his final year of arbitration. They also have oft-injured power hitter Carlos Quentin with a two years and $17.5 million left on his contract. The Padres are seeking an established pitcher. As amusing as it might sound, Kyle Kendrick is considered before the trade deadline is the lack of desperation. The Phillies donít have to trade Brown or Asche; it would just help for them to gain balance in their lineup. And in those two players comes strength in the other team knowing they are getting a better known quantity than usually comes up in trade discussions.

There has been talk about Matt Kemp, but finding a fair deal for his massive contract is a logistical nightmare, not to mention his health is almost as much of a question as Quentinís, but with $100 million more tangled within it.

There are smart solutions. Smart, and bold. And itís up to Amaro to show he can find his way out of this mess.